


It Makes Such an Almighty Sound

by canistakahari



Series: aftershocks [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, M/M, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-10
Updated: 2012-10-10
Packaged: 2017-11-16 01:31:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/533988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canistakahari/pseuds/canistakahari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The aftermath of Xenopolycethemia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Makes Such an Almighty Sound

Talking McCoy into Starfleet isn’t the most straightforward thing Jim’s ever done.  
  
“I don’t like space,” he says flatly, when Jim explains Pike’s offer and how he ended up on McCoy’s doorstep in the first place. Their lives have fallen together like dominos, and after all the things Jim has seen and experienced, after bringing McCoy back from the brink, he isn’t prepared to leave him behind and go to Starfleet alone.   
  
“I know,” says Jim. He’s seen McCoy on shuttles, can’t imagine how he ever managed to get all the way to Dramia II and work there for months during his internship. Jim also knows that McCoy’s strain of Xenopolycythemia originated there, that space not only holds the panic of helplessness and claustrophobia, but the threat of sickness and disease. “I know, Bones. But just think what we could do there.”  
  
McCoy says nothing, staring sightlessly at the medical journal in his hand with a furrow in his brow.   
  
“I don’t believe in fate,” he says finally. “Everything that happened to us... none of that was pre-destined. It just happened.”  
  
Jim thinks of the Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy that travelled between universes to repair the cracks caused by what Jim now knows was the ship that killed his father; thinks of dreams that weren’t really dreams and how he’s always been meant for the stars.  
  
“I don’t believe in fate either,” says Jim. “I believe in you.”   
  
“I’ll think about it,” says McCoy quietly.   
  
“That’s all I need,” replies Jim.  
  


oOo

  
  
“I can’t do this,” McCoy says in a low voice. He’s strapped into the seat beside Jim, tense and shaky, sweat beaded on his upper lip and forehead.   
  
They’ve spent the last three days drinking themselves sick in a shit-faced goodbye to their life in Iowa, and McCoy in particular looks like absolute hell. His stubble and sallow cheeks and the dark circles under his eyes give Jim unpleasant flashbacks. Indulging in an ill-advised bender was a terrible idea. McCoy is going to puke  _all over the place_.   
  
“Yes you can,” says Jim, covering McCoy’s clammy fingers with his own as he starts to fumble the safety belts open. “You  _can_ , Bones.”  
  
“I’ll do a lot for you, Jim, god knows, but—”  
  
“Not for me, Bones,” Jim reminds him. “For you.”  
  
McCoy settles, taking in several deep, shuddering breaths.   
  
“I may throw up on you,” he mumbles, slumping back in his seat.   
  
Jim smiles. “I hear these things are pretty safe.”  
  


oOo

  
  
“I want to kill my roommate,” groans Jim, rolling over on McCoy’s bed and smothering himself in his pillow. “Please, I don’t think I have the strength to repress these new-found homicidal urges. Help.”  
  
“Yeah, well, mine’s a mute,” mumbles McCoy, slouched in his desk chair. “He slips in after class like an eel, disappears at dawn for class, and never says a word to me. He might be planning world-wide domination, I dunno. Whenever we run into each other, he gives me this look like I’m going to eat his face off.”  
  
“Maybe you talk in your sleep about murdering him,” says Jim in a muffled voice. “And he’s terrified he’ll end up impaled on the sharp end of your scalpel.”  
  
“Scalpels use lasers,” retorts McCoy flatly. “There’s no blade.”  
  
“Whatever,” says Jim. “You know what I mean.”  
  
“Wish I could just room with you,” sighs McCoy. “At least I know that as annoying as you get, there’s the soothing balm of sex to look forward to.”

“Thanks, Bones,” drawls Jim. “I love you, too. Hey, speaking of my dick and how much you love it, is there time for a quickie before the beloved roomie gets back?”  
  
There is, in fact, exactly enough time for Jim to get halfway through fucking McCoy into the mattress before the silent roommate slips in, spots what they’re doing, turns a horrified shade of red, and executes an abrupt 360 degree turn to escape without a noise uttered.   
  
One week later, Jim hacks the housing database and assigns himself as McCoy’s new roommate.  
  


oOo

  
  
McCoy complains when he’s upset.   
  
He bitches, rants, yells, snarls, and growls. He is theatrical, loud, and transparent in his anger.  
  
What he  _doesn’t_  do is lie quietly on his side in bed.  
  
“Hey,” says Jim, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He puts a hand on McCoy’s tense shoulder. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“I’m a case study,” says McCoy roughly. He’s been crying. Jim heart lurches in his chest. He hasn’t seen McCoy cry since that day in the hospital when their world changed.   
  
“What?”  
  
“Today’s topic in class,” he continues heavily, “was Xenopolycythemia. I’m a case study. The only documented record of recovery. Not that there’s any explanation for it, but I’m there. In the textbook. I… just. I wasn’t expecting it.”  
  
Jim rubs his back, sits quietly, waiting.   
  
“I haven’t thought about it. Not since that day. Haven’t thought about how close it was. How you were ready to stay with me, right until the—”  
  
“Hey,” says Jim, cutting him off. He lies down with McCoy, wraps himself around his broad back and holds him. “You’re here. With me. I will always stay with you. Wherever we end up, I’ll be there, with you. It’s your call.”  
  
Somehow, without realizing it, they’re talking about space again. The great big elephant in the room. McCoy still hasn’t passed his basic flight test, required for off-planet postings. Jim hasn’t pushed him.  
  
McCoy lets out a shuddering breath. “I know. I know.”  
  
In the end, McCoy leads them into the stars, just like Jim always knew he would.  
  


oOo

  
  
“BONES, I demand a high-five, my man, I just  _whipped_  Spock in 3D chess!” yells Jim, bursting into their shared quarters in the midst of fighting his way out of his uniform shirt.   
  
When he frees himself of its poly-blend embrace, he’s met with the quiet sight of McCoy sitting on the end of the bed, a matte grey case in his lap and a yellowed piece of paper in his hands.   
  
Jim stills. He recognizes it immediately, even six years later. “Where did you find that?” he asks quietly.   
  
“In the cabinet,” says McCoy. “I was looking for my spare kit. Found this instead.”  
  
“I was going to explain,” says Jim. He’s not ready for this. He might never be ready for this.  
  
McCoy lifts his head and there’s confusion painted all over his face. “There’s a vial, in here. What’s in it?”  
  
“The cure for Xenopolycythemia.” Jim was never going to lie to him. Not if McCoy asked.  
  
McCoy sucks in a breath and rereads the note in his hand, the one Jim knows by heart. “How?” he whispers.   
  
“Oh, Bones,” says Jim, sitting down next to him, their shoulders touching. McCoy leans into it, seems to need the contact as much as Jim does. “Do you trust me?”  
  
“With my life,” McCoy replies without an ounce of hesitation.  
  
“I’m going to tell you about my dad,” says Jim. “And how he died. It’ll be easier to start from the beginning.”  
  
“That’s usually the way stories go,” McCoy murmurs.  
  
“Okay,” says Jim, taking a breath. “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> There will be no Narada incident in this verse, because while the Narada crashed through the wormhole from movie-verse into Aftershocks-verse and encountered the Kelvin, at this point the Narada was finally destroyed, finished off by the Enterprise’s torpedoes as it got sucked into the black hole. 
> 
> In Aftershocks, Jim’s dad was killed on the Kelvin when it crashed into the exploding Narada, caught by the wormhole and crushed along with it. He was still a hero (he took over command from Robau when the captain died from injuries sustained in the crash), and Winona still escaped on a shuttle and gave birth to Jim. So the Narada saga ended there (and thus Vulcan still exists in Aftershocks-verse).


End file.
